LOGINIvan waited until Anton's footsteps disappeared completely to look back at Shay.He shook his head, unable to believe the woman was so deeply asleep in these conditions, with her pretty face resting on the literal dirt.Ivan didn't want to sit down on the ground, but he had no other choice now. Shay was out to the world and it didn't look like she would wake up anytime soon.Ivan sighed and took off his coat to place it on the ground next to Shay before sitting down. And now he had nothing else to do except look at her.But there were far worse things to do, Ivan guessed.Shay Hart looked devastatingly adorable when she slept. Peaceful and unaware of her surroundings in a way that made Ivan's chest feel too tight, too full, too... something.Her lashes were long enough to cast faint shadows over the freckles on her cheeks. Her heart-shaped lips were parted slightly and her dark hair fell on her forehead, making her look even younger than her already-short twenty years of living.That
Ivan had been meditating for two hours when he realized he didn't really have to do it. He had meditated for fucking years. So much, he often had to force himself out of meditation to be present.So instead of doing that, he wandered.He told himself he simply wanted to walk around and exercise, but he knew he was looking for something specific. Someone specific.Apparently, he would simply not stop thinking about Shay unless he finally sank his fangs into one of those delicious spots in that delicious body of hers. So, all night, Ivan had crafted a side plan.His main plan still remained: Ivan wanted to die.At some point in the past decade, he realized he depressed and officially done with life. He tried to convince himself that all vampires felt passionless and uninspired past a hundred years, but that lie was difficult to maintain because the more he looked around, the more he realized vampires were very rarely uninspired or sad. Most vampires found the way to make life fun. Alw
She expected to see the same instructors as yesterday, but the moment Shay and her disappointed friends walked into the courtyard, she saw something far worse. Her stomach dropped. "Told you," Adrian muttered, shaking his head and clasping her shoulder from behind, "I'm going to miss you. You saved my number, right? We're not that far away from each other... however, if you leave, I might actually have a chance to win this thing..." "Not really, I'm still better than you," Helene scoffed, then held onto Shay's arm, "I'm going to miss you too." "I'll miss you two as well. Very much," Shay admitted and sighed in absolute resignation, holding onto her friends as she stepped closer to the five vamps. Her four fellow novices... and Sera. She was there to give her the boot in the ass in front of everyone. Although, maybe she could argue her case? Shay's mother would definitely want her to. She would want her to fight them with facts. Sera never told her specifically that sex with a v
"I…" She swallowed, forcing herself to be courageous, whatever the response might be. "Something did happen last night. Ivan went to my bedroom. And I... let him in." Both of them snapped upright. Helene's eyes narrowed to slits. Adrian's jaw dropped. "What?!" Helene hissed, grabbing Shay's forearm like she could squeeze sense into her. "Shay, why would you do that?" "What the actual fuck?" Adrian whispered in shock, "Shay, what? Did he hurt you?" "No, of course not. He's... he's not that bad," Shay started, but her voice wavered, and she didn't know how to explain any of it. She had never planned to be this honest. Ever. "Oh, god, he brainwashed you," Adrian exclaimed in horror, lifting his hands to grab his hair in distress. Shay shook her head, still trying to come up with the right words, "Of course he did. He brainwashed you to make you his... blood slave or whatever they call it. What else could he possibly want?" "He didn't brainwash me, Adrian, I promise. Let me ta
Shay stayed on her bed for a long time after the door closed behind Belov. She didn't move for a while. She just sat there, legs slightly apart, hands hanging loosely at her sides, staring at the ceiling like it might offer her some kind of comfort. Her heart still hadn't settled from everything they did together, all the firsts that Shay willingly gave Ivan. The lingering cold ghost of his hands on her skin made it impossible to calm down. Her entire body felt like it had been rewired, nerves still buzzing where Ivan had been. On her chest, on her throat, on her lips... it had been so perfect. And now that it was over so abruptly, Shay couldn't find a way to deal with it. Ivan's last words were echoing inside her mind. They made sense, they were even sweet, but they were final. Ivan wanted her, and yet he would do his best to stay away. She almost wished Ivan didn't want her at all, if that meant Shay would get to try even more things, everything she still hadn't experien
Ivan had seen a lot of things in his life, more than Shay could ever imagine. He had lived through centuries of casual sex, mindless pleasure, fleeting attachments, and a lot of pretty faces that were only interesting for a night or two. Nothing ever stuck. Nobody stayed in his mind for too long. But watching Shay lying there… cheeks flushed, lips swollen, chest still rising sharply from overstimulation… something inside Ivan twisted sharply, almost painfully. She looked beautiful like this. Destroyed and soft and pliant, because of him. Nothing had ever tested his self-control quite like this girl. Not even when he was a newborn vamp, trying to stop himself from turning every single person he came across, willing or not, into his source. To be honest, Shay made him feel like that again. Like an impulsive, careless child. So, Ivan drank the boring blood from the packet slowly, trying to pretend he wasn't unraveling. Shay was too busy trying to breathe again to notice how hard
"Well, now you're just making it sound awesome," Shay murmured, kind of bummed she wouldn't get to have it. Ivan moved his eyes away from her, exhaled hard and placed his hands on his hips, as if he needed a break, "So... this is it, then? You really don't want to do anything with me?" Ivan’s eyes
She wanted to go after him and ask more questions. She hated how confused Ivan made her every time he opened his mouth. Everything about him was a big confusing question mark. Because, why would he coach his opponent, possibly the strongest one in here? Shay was being realistic when she said th
"Are we all ready to continue with the next evaluation?" the female instructor asked, completely unshaken by the fifteen minute long interruption, "We are going to work on reaction assessment now. One partner stands still, the other throws an energy pulse. We'll measure reaction and response." Sha
The next morning, Shay woke up earlier than necessary, feeling unrested.Probably because she spent most of the night overthinking about that moment with Ivan Belov. And even after hours of doing that, she had no clue of what had happened. Not really.She wasn't entirely sure of whether Belov took







